Space Corner
by jessdb4
Summary: Stories of Wesley growing up with his parents.
1. Chapter 1

"And… done," Jack said pridefully as he placed the final glow-in-the-dark star sticker on the ceiling. He turned to address Beverly, who was observing from the doorway. "What do you think?" He gestured to the room with his arms open wide. "Not bad for my first ever nursery, right?"

"It's perfect," she agreed as she cradled her large belly. He came over and gave her a peck on the lips, and then turned back to face the room.

"Yea… I just wish the stars were accurate, though," he said wistfully.

"Well…" Beverly pondered, "just think how much space is out there that has yet to be explored. And if the universe is infinite, it stands to reason that every possible configuration of stars exists somewhere. So, this is an accurate map of… somewhere. You just have to go find out where."

"Beverly, have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Hmm, you may have mentioned it."

"Well, have I ever mentioned how sexy you are when you talk about theoretical stellar cartography?"

"No, that's something I've never heard before!" she laughed.

"Well, you are," he said again.

They continued their banter as they left the nursery, and enjoyed what would be their last night together before they became a family of three.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello, Wesley. As I make this recording, you are about two months old."

"He's ten weeks!" Beverly called out from the other room.

Jack sighed and paused the video recording as she appeared in the doorway.

"Two months, ten weeks, same thing," he said playfully.

"Not in baby time. Every week counts," she countered.

"Alright, alright. Ten weeks it is."

"Why does it matter? Are you talking to someone?"

"I'm… uh… talking to Wesley."

"What?"

Jack hesitated before answering, and his tone turned somber. "I'm making a recording, for him to have when he's older. Everybody can look back at pictures of themselves and their parents from their baby days, but I want him to have the real deal—to really understand who I am. Does that make sense?"

Beverly teared up as she considered his words. She thought it was a wonderful idea, but it also brought up the melancholy dread that came with being (and being married to) a Starfleet officer. Jack seemed to imply that when Wesley grows up, these recordings will be all he has left.

Jack took her silence as a bad sign. "You think it's stupid, I know, I do too, I'll just turn it off..."

She silenced him with a kiss. "No, I think it's a wonderful idea," she said passionately. With that, she kissed him again and said goodnight.

"I'll be up soon!" he called after her. He straightened his uniform, and turned back to the camera with newfound confidence to begin another take. "Hello, Wesley. As I make this recording, you are about ten weeks old…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Goodnight stars, Goodnight air. Goodnight, noises everywhere," Jack said softly as he closed the old-fashioned book (which was a gift from Jean-Luc when Wesley was born).

"Daddy, which moon are they saying goodnight to?" asked the toddler in his lap.

"Um, well, Earth's moon, I guess."

"But how can we be sure? They're not even people, they're bunnies."

Jack laughed. Wesley was already amazingly bright for his age.

"This book was written a very, very long time ago—back before they knew about any planets outside the Terran solar system."

"Oh, ok. But why are they bunnies? Maybe they're alien bunnies!"

Jack chuckled again as he picked Wesley up and moved from the rocking chair to his bed. "Oh, yeah? Well, maybe YOU'RE an alien bunny!" he said as he swung Wesley around in his arms.

"I am not!" squealed Wesley.

"Are too! Alien bunny, alien bunny!" Jack had placed Wesley onto his small bed, and was now tickling him, eliciting cries of joy.

"What is going on here? I _thought_ it was bedtime," scolded Beverly as she appeared in the doorway.

"Uh-oh, Mom's mad," Jack stage-whispered to Wes. "Maybe _she's_ an alien bunny!" Wesley giggled. "But she is right, it's time for bed." As per their routine, Jack kissed Wes on the forehead as he pulled up the covers. "Goodnight, my little explorer."

"Goodnight, my big explorer," came the response.

Jack chuckled again. As Beverly called her goodnights out to Wesley, Jack took her hand and they left the room together. He looked down at their joined hands, and paused to wonder how he got so damn lucky.


	4. Chapter 4

"… And goodnight to the Vulcan whispering, 'hush'. Goodnight stars, goodnight planets. Goodnight Federation members, everywhere."

"I like that one better," offered Wesley.

"Me, too," agreed Jack.

"I especially like the Vulcan lady whispering 'hush'. She reminds me of Mrs. Turoth."

Jack smiled at the idea of Wesley learning from a harsh Vulcan. Vulcans were rarely human preschool teachers, but Wesley was already testing at Kindergarten levels and above. So, while he attended preschool with other kids his age, he received additional tutoring in the core subjects. Mrs. Turoth was his math tutor. "Well, I hope you're a good listener, and she doesn't have to 'hush' you too often."

"I am, promise! She only 'hush'es me sometimes," he said with a pout. Eager to change the subject away from school, he added, "Also, I don't think the other book was about alien bunnies—just Earth bunnies."

"Oh, yeah? I really did like the idea of alien bunnies."

"Yea. But I still don't know why they used Earth bunnies instead of Earth people."

"Me neither. That's why I like _Goodnight Federation_ better, too."

Wesley yawned and rubbed his eyes. Especially because he was so advanced, Jack sometimes forgot just how small he really was. He found himself staring at Wesley's chubby little fingers as he tucked him into bed. This time, he picked up his hand and kissed each little finger, counting out loud as he did so. "One, two, three, four, five… just making sure they're all there." Wesley giggled as Jack moved up to give him a final kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, my little explorer."

"Goodnight, my big explorer."


	5. Chapter 5

"Goodnight, my little explorer."

"Goodnight, my big explorer."

"Daddy?" Wesley called out just as Jack was almost out the door.

"Yeah, buddy?" he asked, poking his head back in.

"Are my stars real?"

"What do you mean?"

"My stars." Wesley gestured with his chin up toward the ceiling, where his stars were glowing brightly.

"Oh. Sorry buddy, but they're not real stars. They're stickers on your ceiling."

Wesley pouted a little. "I know that, Dad," he said flatly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, my bad," Jack said playfully as he walked back into the room. "So, what do you mean?"

"I mean…" Wesley paused a little as he struggled to come up with the words to express his thoughts. (Theoretical stellar cartography was a difficult topic for a four-year-old, after all. Even one as advanced as Wesley.) "I mean, are they in the real place that they would be in the sky?"

"Oh, I think I get what you're asking. You mean like, are they a map?"

"Yea! A map!"

Jack's eyes lit up as he remembered the conversation he had with Beverly about this exact topic, years ago. He hadn't exactly planned on sharing it with his son so soon, but then again—he hadn't planned on having a genius son, either. He came in, scooted Wesley over on the bed, and lay down next to him, so that they were gazing up at the stars together.

"Well, you know how the universe is really, really, big, right?"

"Yea."

"And how there are lots of parts we've never been to before?"

"Yea."

"And how there could be so many different things out there, and we have no idea what they are?"

"Yes, Daddy, I know." Although Jack was enjoying this conversation, the child was losing interest with this basic review session. Jack decided to cut to the chase.

"Well, it's possible—I mean, I believe—that this is a map of some stars, out there somewhere. We just don't know where yet," he said longingly.

"Oh. Okay." Wesley paused as he considered his father's answer, then asked a new question. "Will you go find it?"

"What?" Jack was taken aback by the perceptive question.

"Will you go find the stars?"

"Well… I'll certainly try my best," he answered hesitantly.

Wesley pouted again at what he deemed a subpar answer. "You should go find the stars, Daddy."

Jack turned, and saw the resolve on his child's face. Suddenly, he realized how important this was. "You're right, Wesley. I promise, that for the rest of my life, I will never stop looking for those stars. And, when I find them, I'll come back and get you, and then I'll take you back to the stars with me. It will be… it'll be like our own special corner of space. Where the stars were placed perfectly, just for us."

"Who put them there?"

Again, Jack was amazed by the curiosity of his child. "What?"

"You said the stars are put there just for us. Who put them there?"

Jack decided to dodge the question. Theoretical stellar cartography was enough for one night, after all. Discussions of who placed the stars in the universe would have to wait for another day. "Well, I don't know who put the stars in the sky, but I made the map on your ceiling."

"YOU did?" Jack laughed at Wesley's wonder. In the boy's mind, placing the stars on the ceiling meant the same thing as placing them in the sky. Jack didn't bother trying to convince him otherwise.

"Yup, I did! I put the map of stars up there, and soon, I'm going to go find them in space. But before we can go exploring the stars, it's bedtime, for both of us. Goodnight, my little explorer," he said with another kiss.

"Goodnight, my big explorer."

"Sleep tight in your little space corner."

Wesley giggled at the new addition. "Hey, that rhymes! Do it again!"

"Alright, last time. Goodnight, my little explorer."

"Goodnight, my big explorer!"

"Sleep tight in your little space corner."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Wesley, come here—I want to show you something!" As the boy came running in from the woods, Jack marveled at the fact that he was still awake and full of energy. Their day had been packed with activity—swimming, baseball, fishing for dinner, and more—and Wesley soaked in every minute of it. Jack was eager for the opportunity to watch his son grow up on the banks Balfour Lake, just like he grew up coming here with his dad.

"What is it, Daddy?" he asked as he arrived, slightly out of breath.

"Watch." Jack picked up a manta leaf from the ground next to him and threw it into the fire. Wesley watched with amazement as it made a small "pop" and sent sparks up into the sky.

"Again, Daddy! Again!"

"Haha, okay." Jack threw a few more leaves into the fire, and Wesley laughed with joy each time. "Here," he said, holding out a leaf to Wesley, "you try. Just be careful not to get too close." Wesley took a timid step forward and threw the leaf into the fire with as much strength as a four-year-old could muster.

"I did it!" he declared with joy as the sparks flew. "Can I do it again?"

"Sure, but we're all out of leaves right here. Go find us some more."

Wesley ran all over the campsite, gathering up as much of the dried leaves as he could fit in his pudgy little hands. Sometimes he threw them in one by one, and sometimes he threw in whole handfuls at a time. Each time Wesley came back to the fire, Jack told him again not to get too close, just in case. After about ten minutes of this, Wesley came running back with his biggest handful yet. "Daddy, look how many!" he called out as he approached.

"Wow, buddy! Just be careful, don't get too—" he was cut off as Wesley, who was paying more attention to what was in his hands rather than to his feet, tripped over a twig and fell face-first toward the fire. He didn't land in the fire directly, but the leaves went flying out of his hands, sending a small shower of sparks onto him. Jack instantly scooped up the distraught boy while Beverly, who had been inside the tent preparing the sleeping bags, poked her head out at the sound of her son's cries.

"Uh, Bev, I think we may need that medkit after all." Beverly inwardly rolled her eyes as she held the tent-flap open for Jack and Wesley to come in. She knew something like this was bound to happen, and she was a doctor after all—she was going to be prepared. But Jack had made fun of her while she packed the bag— "What, are we bringing the whole sickbay?" were his exact words.

Her thoughts were halted when the cries of her son came into focus as they stepped into the tent. "It's his hands," Jack explained. "He tripped and scraped them pretty bad, and he was really close to the fire. They're not burned, are they?" Even over their son's wails, Beverly could hear the worry in Jack's voice. But her fears of the worst were dispelled when she inspected Wesley's hands. He had some minor scrapes and a few small scorch marks—they hardly even qualified as burns. Nothing the dermal regenerator couldn't fix.

"No, he's not that bad," she said as she grabbed the proper tool from the kit. "This will fix you right up," she said to Wesley. But as she tried to grab his hands he pulled them away, not wanting to be touched. He thrashed and cried in Jack's arms, while Jack struggled to keep a grip on him. "Jack, I need him to sit still," she said with an edge of frustration in her voice. "Can't you do something to calm him down?"

Jack racked his brain and finally remembered their favorite story. He had never recited _Goodnight Federation_ from memory before, but he was confident that he could. "Hey, Wesley," he said gently, and launched into the story as soon as he had his son's attention. "In the great big universe, there were some planets, and lots of people, and an idea of everyone getting along…" Wesley quickly calmed down to the soothing sound of his father's voice, paired with the steady hum of his mom's machine. By the time Beverly turned off the device, he was fast asleep.

After a few minutes, Beverly's voice broke the strained silence that had consumed the tent. "It's not your fault, you know."

"What?"

"It's not your fault that Wesley got hurt," she repeated.

"I know that," Jack snapped, a little too harshly.

"So why do you blame yourself?" she asked gently.

Jack sighed and chuckled a little at how perfectly she got to the heart of the matter. Wesley obviously got his smarts and observation skills from his mother. "It's just that… I warned him, over and over, not to get too close. And he listened to me, it's not like he was misbehaving. But he still got hurt. I guess… I guess I'm just realizing that no matter what I say or do, I can't protect you from everything." He grew more and more downcast as he spoke, but he suddenly looked up at Beverly with passion as he added, "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try like hell."

Beverly leaned in and kissed her husband as their child continued to sleep, cradled between them. Jack Crusher loved others with every fiber of his being, and she knew he would give her all the stars in the sky if he could. As they climbed into their sleeping bags, she dozed off thinking about how lucky she and Wesley were to have such a wonderful husband and father.

…

Jack awoke to a small hand on his face. "Daddy? Daddy, wake up!"

"Wha… what is it, buddy?" He was surprised to realize it was still the middle of the night. "Do you need to go potty?"

"No, Daddy. We need to go look for our space corner."

"What?"

"You promised we could look at the stars and try to find our space corner, but we didn't do it before bed. So we have to do it now!"

"You're right, buddy. Let's get the blankets, and we can go look. Quietly, so we don't wake up Mommy."

Together, Jack and Wesley brought out a few blankets and pillows, and they made a spot for themselves near the fire pit, which was now dark. Wesley sighed as they looked up at the stars. "I don't see it, Daddy."

"You sure? Check again, just in case."

Wesley studied as much of the sky as he could see, with as much seriousness as a four-year-old was capable of. "Yes, I'm sure. It's not here."

Jack was saddened to hear the disappointment in Wesley's voice. He wanted Wesley to be inspired by the stars—not disappointed when they didn't meet his expectations. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Well, our space corner might not be right here—but somebody else's might."

"Really?" Wesley asked with wonder.

"Really," answered Jack. "Like, you see that brightest star, right there?"

"Yea."

"Whose space corner do you think that is?"

Wesley giggled, and together they moved from star to star, making up stories for all the people and aliens who might call this section of space their home.

…

Beverly rolled over as the light of the dawning sun shone through the tent into her eyes. As she stretched out her arm, she was surprised to find only cold ground where she expected her son and husband to be. However, she quickly realized where they must be, and her suspicions were confirmed as she walked out of the tent, and was greeted by the sight of her son fast asleep in her husband's arms. She decided to let them sleep for a little longer, as she looked with love at her boys with stars in their eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Look, Daddy! I'm you!" Jack looked up from his PADD as watched his five-year-old son come into the room. He was wearing one of Jack's old uniform tunics, and it hung down on him like a dress. He had his arms stretched wide, as he was being careful not to trip on the sleeves or the end of the shirt. As he reached Jack, he looked up at his dad with pride, squishing his nose against the inside of the glass bowl that was on his head.

Jack laughed at his son's dress up. "I can see that, buddy! I know what your shirt is, but what's with the bowl?"

Wesley nearly rolled his eyes at his father's silly question. "It's a space helmet, Dad. When people aren't on a planet or on a ship, they need the helmet to breathe. You're going to need one if you're going on a spaceship, Dad."

Jack laughed again as he pulled the bowl off his son's head and kissed him on the nose. "Of course, how could I have been so silly? I'm sure they'll have one for me on the _Stargazer_." As he held the bowl in his hands, he began to grow concerned. "Uh, Wes, where did you get this bowl?"

"On your desk. It had a fishy inside," Wes said matter-of-factly.

"And where's the fishy now?"

"Taking a bath!"

Jack sprinted up the stairs toward the bathroom, where he found the tub nearly overflowing with bubbles. He frantically searched the tub until he finally found the small goldfish.

"See? All clean!" Wesley supplied innocently from the doorway.

Jack did his best to force a smile on his face as he held the lifeless fish in his hands. "Thanks for your help, buddy. But from now on, let's keep the fishies in their bowls, okay?"

Wesley shrugged, not realizing the error of his ways. "Okay."

As Wesley started to wander away, Jack discreetly dumped the fish in the toilet and flushed it. "Hey Wesley," Jack called after him, "why don't you go put your clothes back on, and then we'll go to the pet store? We can go pick out another fish to be Captain Picard's present."


	8. Epilogue

Sometimes, Wesley just liked to sit alone, stare out at the stars, and think. Aside from the bridge, the best view was in Ten Forward. However, he rarely went there to seriously ponder life's questions, as it was often packed with people. But when he found himself drawn there one night, he was relieved when he found the place empty.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Guinan asked after a few minutes.

Wesley jumped at the unexpected visitor, but found that he didn't mind her company. "No, just looking at the stars," he answered, somewhat untruthfully.

"They are beautiful." Guinan wasn't going to push, but she could tell there was more on his mind.

Wesley had never talked about his "space corner" with anyone, not even his mom. After all, it was just a silly thing from his childhood that his dad had made up. But he discovered that he wanted to share the idea with someone, and Guinan was easy to talk to. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up. "It's just that… well, if the universe is infinite, then it stands to reason that there's an infinite number of patterns the stars could be arranged in. So, any pattern you can think of could be one of those infinite possibilities."

"I'm not sure I'm following you, Wes."

"Like, maybe, somewhere out there, the stars are arranged in a perfectly straight line. I mean, it seems crazy, but who knows—it could be possible, and we'd never know until we find it! So maybe somewhere else they form a perfect triangle, and somewhere else still, they spell out a letter."

"So you're saying that, maybe somewhere out there, the stars form a perfect portrait of the captain's face?"

Wesley laughed at her joke. "Ha, yeah, maybe! Boy, I would love to see his reaction when we discover _that_ star system."

"That's quite an interesting theory, Wes," she pondered. But she knew there was more on his mind than silly shapes. "But what's the point?"

"Well…" he hesitated, not quite sure if he really wanted to share this with someone. But before he fully made up his mind, he found himself continuing. "Well, maybe, somewhere out there, there's a place where the stars are aligned perfectly, just for you. And it's like your own, special little section of space, where everything is just right."

"Interesting," was Guinan's only immediate feedback. They sat there for another few minutes, each pondering the idea individually. "But I wonder," Guinan added as she stood to leave, "maybe someone's perfect place in the universe has nothing to do with the alignment of the stars. Goodnight." And with that, she was out the door.

Wesley repressed a small shiver and turned back to the window. He wasn't exactly sure where his dad was now, but Wes was sure that he had found their own little space corner—a place where the stars were perfectly aligned, exactly where Jack Crusher himself had put them. And, silly as it may seem, Wesley also believed that Jack would remain true to his word, and that Wesley would join him there one day.

But as he glanced back toward the doors, Guinan's words came back to him. Maybe she was right. While he would never stop searching the stars, maybe he already found his perfect corner of space.

...

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading! This is a work in progress, as I already have a few story ideas I want to insert as their own chapters. This is also my first ever attempt at writing, so any ideas, feedback, reviews, etc. would be much appreciated. Thank you!


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